For Someone
by Evildevilangel
Summary: Somehow, Scripps had always thought he was kidding. Scripps/Posner, light other pairings.


Somehow, Scripps had always thought he was kidding. Exaggerating, at the very least. No one changed the way that they wrote for someone. No one stayed in school two extra years and then went through the most rigorous admissions process in the country for someone. Apparently he was wrong.

"What'd you do that for?" he asked, rubbing his jaw.

"I… I just… I'm sorry," said the skinny boy kneeling over him.

"_You hit me_." Scripps wasn't sure if he was more incredulous that _Posner_ had hit him, or that he had been hit while _comforting_ his friend.

The flush in the other boy's face was spreading from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. "Yes. But I didn't mean to."

"_You socked me in the jaw_." Incredulous, then. "You don't accidentally deck someone, mate."

The purple became slightly fainter at the last word. "I… I know… but it wasn't on purpose. It just… it just happened and I'm _very _sorry."

"It just happened, huh?" He was going to need some ice for that. There might still be some cubes in the fridge…

"Please don't go!"

Scripps' eyebrows furrowed. "I… I'm just going to get some ice. I'll be right back. Don't… hit anything else, alright?"

Posner suddenly became very fixated on the grain of his dormitory floor. The purple was back.

"That was a joke, Pos," he said gently before he turned back towards the door and headed down the hall to the kitchen. What the hell had happened?

_They were sitting on the bed, studying for Morris' exam. _

"_What year were the Two Princes were imprisoned in?" Scripps asked, barely looking up from his notes. No one answered his question. "Pos?... POS?" He gave the other boy a little shove in case he'd drifted off._

"_What? Sorry." Posner buried his face in the pillow for a moment before looking at his friend. "I'm trying to focus, really."_

"_Nervous about Dakin's visit next weekend?"_

_The skinny boy shook his head. _

"_You sure? He hasn't been around much recently…" _

_Posner shook his head again. "Like I care."_

_Scripps smiled and stretched his arms. He knew his lines from this point. "That's the spirit, Pos." He slung his arm around the blond boy. "You'll be over him soon enough. We can always talk about it though, you know."_

"_I don't want to talk about it. I want to forget about the whole thing."_

_The writer clucked his tongue. "Come on, Pos. There were good times. And soon enough you'll be grown up and the phase will be over."_

"_Which phase?"_

_The question caught Scripps by surprise. This was not part of the routine. "Which phase?"_

"_Yes. Which phase?"_

"_Your thing for… um… you know… boys." Scripps reached up a hand to rub his neck. This was going to be difficult._

"_Oh. That. You want me to… get over it." Posner stared at the pillow._

"_Well, I mean, I thought you wanted to. To forget about Dakin and whatnot. Move on."_

_Posner blushed. "What if I've already moved on?"_

_Scripps grinned. "Got a crush, do you? Who is she?"_

"_I… I don't think I want to tell you!" He stuck his nose in the air as he grinned._

"_Come on. I'll stay away from her. I stayed off Dakin, didn't I?"_

_Posner went white as a sheet. "You… Dakin?"_

"_Of course," he said. "Not like you needed any more mess in that."_

"_You…" Posner choked. Then he hit him. Hard._

Scripps shuddered as he touched the ice to his jaw. For heaven's sake, the boy was colossally overreacting. Just because he had made some stupid joke about _Dakin_. It was supposed to make him feel better! He headed back to his room. "Hey, Pos…"

The boy in question was curled up in a very tight ball on Scripps' bed. "Hey," he murmured.

The writer sat down beside his friend and put an arm around his shoulders. Posner shuddered. "Look, mate, I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have made the crack about Dakin. I didn't mean anything by it."

Posner muttered something.

"What?" He reached out and tilted the boy's chin away from his chest. "Try that again," he said gently.

"Nothing," he muttered.

"Come on," he coaxed. "I'm really sorry. Let's just forget about it."

"You liked _Dakin_."

"I got over it."

Posner shook his head. His hands were shaking, Scripps realized. "You liked _Dakin_. And you didn't tell _anyone_. We told you _everything_."

"Wouldn't have changed anything," he said with a shrug.

Suddenly, Posner sat up straight as a stick and stared at him. "It would have changed _everything_," he said.

Scripps was about to ask _what_ exactly he thought would change. But then Posner kissed him. It was light and terrified and only lasted a second, but Posner definitely kissed him. "Oh," he said lamely.

"I've got to go." The other boy was across the room before Scripps could even process the words.

"You…" Posner turned around. "You don't have to," he said.

The other boy smiled. "I'll see you at dinner?"

"Sure," replied Scripps.

Posner nodded and shut the door. Scripps wondered what Pos expected him to _do _until dinner. He thought about playing the piano like he usually did, but it felt wrong. He only played for the singer, he realized. The past five years, he had only ever practiced when he knew Posner had a song he wanted to do. He let a small smile curl at the ends of his lips. Maybe the extra years of school, the Oxbridge applications, the insanity… Maybe it was all worth it.


End file.
